R&B singer/producer Ryan Leslie broke down in tears and set fire to a newspaper during a recent concert in New York after losing a $1 million court battle over a stolen laptop.
The musician was sued last year for allegedly reneging on his promise to pay a $1 million reward to Armin Augstein, who discovered the lost property in a backpack in Cologne, Germany in 2010.
Leslie testified in a Manhattan court last week, insisting the hefty sum was only intended for the safe return of the songs on his external hard drive, which couldn’t be recovered, but a jury ruled against him and he was subsequently ordered to pay up.
The court decision became headline news, but Leslie was not impressed with the press coverage by the New York Post and he showed his disdain for the article by taking a lighter to the publication while onstage at Long Island University’s homecoming concert on Friday, before stomping out the flames.
Prior to the paper burning, Leslie told the crowd, “Yesterday, and the reason why I’m on the front page of the news today, everyone thought I was just a cheapskate or something like that – a jury of my peers, eight people, they looked me in my face and told me I had to pay this man $1 million for music I never got back.”
The emotional singer also revealed that the $1 million reward for the return of his unreleased songs still stands because he will never be able to recreate the music he lost.
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